When magic fails
by MagicLee
Summary: Lily's sacrifice killed Voldemort, but Voldemort had not been alone. Harry's childhood under Bellatrix had been the worst sort, but when he finally reached Hogwarts will he be able to accept friendship from the man who had rescued him? [HarryXSnape]
1. Chapter 1

A/N: hello and welcome to my HP AU. A few quick words: this is a universe where Lily's sacrifice

did kill Voldemort but the death eaters got to Harry before Dumbledore did. There will be dark

themes to this fic, don't read if it will trigger you. I'm making it mature for what might spring up in the

future. This introductory chapter is very short but the future ones will be much longer.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, I am only borrowing her characters

and will attempt to return them without causing too much fangirl damage.

That said, sit back and enjoy.

The screams tore at Snape's heart. He could hear Bellatrix's insane cackle and repeated shrieks of

"Crucio!". Surrounded by the other death eaters there was not much Snape could do to intervene, even

if he wanted to. He watched as the little boy – the spitting image of Snape's old nemesis – screamed in

high-pitched agony. The child was very small for his age. For 6 years after the dark lord's death

Bellatrix had tortured the little child in a muggle trailer park where no one would think to look for

him, or care about the screams of a child. Snape could not prevent the pity that was snaking through

his heart.

"He's Malfoy's age," Narcissa sobbed, oblivious to the looks of disgust from the other death eaters.

Snape glanced over her head at Lucious Malfoy, who was pale and swaying on his feet. His old friend

met his gaze bleakly.

"Bellatrix seems to have finally lost all reason," Snape murmured. Lucious' eyes darted between him

and the witch who had given up her wand to kick the boy repeatedly in the stomach. Finally Lucious'

lips firmed and he nodded at Snape.

"No child deserves this," he said grimly. As if they had practiced, the two wizards lifted their wands

in unison. Green flashed and several thuds were heard. Bellatrix's cackle cut off in an odd gurgle. The

death eaters fell one by one, leaving only Snape, Lucious and Narcissa who was now screaming

through her tears. Snape spared her moment's worth of pity as Lucious gathered her in a hug. She had

just watched her sister and most of her friends die.

With slow, measured steps Snape neared the son of James Potter who was cowering on the ground.

The child was a mess of bruises, cuts, broken bones and clear malnutrition. Knowing Bellatrix she had

never taught the child to speak. As a matter of fact, staring down at the weeping boy Snape knew it

would be a mercy to put an end to the child.

Snape lifted his wand.

Just then the boy glanced up at him. Harry shrank away from the man in terror, but the spell he was

expecting did not come. Snape stood frozen. He was looking into the forest green eyes of Lily Potter.

His Lily. He felt her loss deeply as if he was staring down at her broken body again for the first time.

"Severus?" Lucious snapped him back into the present.

"Have Dumbledore deal with the... child," his voice came out strangled. He turned on his heel and

strode away. Behind him the child of Lily made a sad noise. Snape didn't look back.

(10 years later)

Harry wandered slowly into the big hall. There were rows upon rows of students seated at tables so

long Harry almost wondered if he was dreaming. Where the ceiling was supposed to be large sparkly

stars were twinkling down at him. Realising he was falling behind the other first years, he lengthened

his stride to catch up. It didn't take long – he was quite a bit taller than most of them. Dumbledore had

explained to him that most kids started school at 11 years old, but that Harry had a unique situation

that had required him to wait until he was sixteen. Harry knew what he meant by unique. He had been

far behind in growth, both mentally and physically, when the aurors had found him as a child. He was

shy to be so much older than his classmates, but he did his best to suppress the nasty little voice inside

telling him that he would never be a great wizard. He couldn't even use magic accidentally. He was a

fraud. Dumbledore had told him to be patient, that his magic would come, but he had not missed the

anxiety in the old wizard's eyes as he spoke.

"When I call your name you will step up and I will place the sorting hat on your head. You will then

be sorted into your houses," Minerva McGonagall was saying. Harry had met the old witch a few

times before. She looked incredibly strict but she always snuck him cookies when Dumbledore wasn't watching. The names were called alphabetically, leaving Harry to nervously watch as the others were s sorted into their houses. When it was finally his turn he had to take a deep breath to steady himself

"Harry Potter!"

Whispers went up all around the hallway but Harry tuned the noise out. The healer at St Mungos had

warned him that people would be curious about him. He could handle this. He straightened his back

and stiffly took a seat in front of McGonagall. When she placed the musty hat on his head Harry

caught the scent of leather and dust.

"Musty! I'll have you know that I am cleaned once a week!" The hat spat indignantly. Harry couldn't

help but wince at the loud voice in his ears. Even now loud sounds echoed with snippets of the past.

Bellatrix cackling as she tortured him, death eaters calling him horrible names, his own screams. He

took a few more deep gulps of breath to avoid being drawn back into his memories. The smell of old

hat and candle wax helped center him. He wasn't at Bellatrix's place.

"Hmm, there is courage here. You would make a fair Gryffindor."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Gryffindors were the good guys, right? Not like...

"However," the hat continued. "There is anger here too, and a thirst to prove yourself. You would do

better in..."

Harry's heart plummeted into his stomach. He already knew which house the hat had chosen.

"Slytherin!"

A few cheers went up. Harry moved to the green house as if he was watching himself walk from

outside his body. The house of Bellatrix Lestrange. The house for all that is evil and broken. And as

he walked a sense of self-loathing filled him. He was no better than the witch he had hated – **hated** –

as a child. He was a Slytherin.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry did not speak to the other students. A few of the younger kids tried speaking to him, but his one word responses seemed to make them loose interest. It was no big loss to Harry. He did not

want to be friends with these people... Slytherin house. Again he felt swamped with despair and self-

loathing as he played with the food in front of him. Everyone around him was enjoying cheerful

conversation and amazing festival food, but to Harry it all seemed macabre. Dumbledore had told him

that his parents had been Gryffindors. They had been killed by a Slytherin...

Harry was relieved when finally the food started vanishing and people started trailing out of the great hall. He did not miss the frowns Dumbledore had sent him all through the meal. He probably could not believe that Harry wasn't a Gryffindor like his parents either. Harry followed the other Slytherins

to the dungeons, where a life-sized painting of Salazar Slytherin blocked their way. The prefect spoke

a few words to it and the painting swung open, revealing a plush living area decorated in green and

silver.

"This is the common room. Whenever you want to relax or hang out with your housemates, you may

do it here. Take care to keep the area clean and cosy for everyone. Upstairs to the right the boys will

find their dormitories. Same with girls on the left. First years are not allowed in prefect areas. You

have your own bathroom – keep it neat. As you all know Professor Snape is our head of house. He

usually checks in here once a day to make sure all of you are behaving. If you have any issues or

concerns, make an appointment with him and he will address it."

The prefect continued his introductory speech, but Harry was no longer listening. Something about

what he had said tickled at his memory. Professor Snape? Why did the name seem so familiar?

Harry tried to think back. If Snape worked at Hogwarts Harry must have met him at Dumbledore's

house. He just could not remember. He shoved the thought away when all the first years began

moving into their dormitories. He followed a small group to a circular room with six beds, also

decorated in green and silver. The other first years gave excited yells and started jumping on the plus

beds. Harry eyed the room and chose the bed next to the door. It was farthest from the rest so he could

keep some distance from the other kids. He did not have much with him, but he folded over the covers

of his bed to mark it as his. Dumbledore had said that one of the house elves would deliver all of the

school stuff they had bought for him, but it must not have arrived yet.

The other first years chattered excitedly about anything and everything. Harry listened to them talk

about the food, the ceiling, the teachers and the other houses without much interest. He couldn't help

but wish that he had gotten into Gryffindor. His throat felt swollen and he wanted to cry. Instead he

pulled the curtains over his bed, getting some privacy from the other kids, and crawled under the

covers. He would not cry. And he had gone through the entire day without a single panic attack.

Really, he should be proud of himself.

The healers at St Mungos had been worried that being around so much magic in Hogwarts would

remind him of... that time, but he felt a small sense of triumph. There hadn't been any scary magic.

Take that, Bellatrix.

"Excuse me, boys, might Mr Potter be in here?"

Harry almost groaned out loud. Dumbledore did not wait for a response but pulled back his curtains

and beamed down at the child. Harry glared at him with all the venom he could muster.

"You aren't supposed to be in here, Headmaster," he growled. Dumbledore only laughed and patted

his foot, which was the closest to him.

"Harry my boy, let us go for a walk. I want to hear about your first day."

Blushing under the stares of the other boys, Harry grabbed Dumbledore and ushered him out of the

dormitory. They made it all the way out of Slytherin's common room before Harry turned to glare at

the scatterbrained old wizard who had raised him.

"You can't come in there when you feel like it! The other kids will think its weird," he said as sternly

as possible. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with that infuriating mischief it always held.

"Surely the headmaster is allowed to visit his students?"

"Not me," Harry hissed. "They're already talking enough about me. Next they'll be saying you're

treating me differently and then no one in school will want to talk to me."

Dumbledore held up a hand in surrender.

"I won't do such a terrible thing again. Now how about we go steal cupcakes in the kitchen and you

tell me about your first day of school? I'm thinking caramel with sprinkles..."

Harry opened his mouth to tell Dumbledore what he thought about the headmaster stealing food from

the kitchen after a feast, but after a second thought he decided against it. He'd rather talk to

Dumbledore than actively ignore the kids in his dorm.

As they walked he told Dumbledore about his day. He skirted around a few topics, like being chosen

for Slytherin and being the only first year with no magic, but Dumbledore didn't seem to notice. The

old man roared with laughter when Harry told him how one of the first years had lost a chocolate frog

to an owl. It was when they were sneaking out of the kitchen that Harry stopped dead in his tracks,

staring at the man who had rounded the corner at that exact moment. He vaguely heard Dumbledore

mutter something under his breath, but his attention was focussed on the man who looked as surprised

to see him. The man was dressed all in black, with hair falling into his eyes that were also dark as

night. There was shock and something else in the man's gaze. Harry felt as if he had disconnected

from the ground beneath him. It was the face he had seen in his dreams all too often. Usually in his

nightmares. The face of the man who had ended Bellatrix's life with a spell as calmly as if it had

meant nothing. As if he had been discussing the weather.

"Oh dear, Severus, you caught us. Please don't tell the house elves, but I do enjoy their cupcakes so

very much," Dumbledore murmured as if oblivious to the atmosphere. "In fact I'll bribe you with a

nice chocolate one if you don't say anything."

Snape did not take his eyes off of Harry as he gave Dumbledore his scathing retort.

"I don't eat sweet things, headmaster. And I doubt the elves would refuse them you if you simply

asked."

Harry glared down at his feet, a blush running from the tip of his toes all the way to the top of his

head. He hadn't heard that cool, contemptuous voice in so many years. It felt too surreal to be

standing in front of the man who had saved him. He wanted to say something, to thank the man, but

his mouth would not open.

"Oh but I am convinced they do taste better stolen."

"If you would, headmaster, I would like to know why one of my first years is out stealing baked

goods instead of in the common room at this time of night," Snape spoke calmly, but the boy flinched

at his words. If Snape felt any regret at scaring the boy, he did not show it. Harry again fought to say something - anything - but it was Dumbledore who finally responded.

"I simply needed a word with Mr Potter before bedtime. I am sure you don't mind my speaking to a student, Severus?" Although it was a question, there was a hint of teasing in his voice that surprised Harry. It was very unlike Dumbledore to rile someone up on purpose.

"In the future, headmaster," Snape bit off the title with an irritated noise. "I would prefer if my students got to bed at the appropriate hour. Surely you would not want the students to think you are playing favorites."

The threat was clear. Harry flushed with embarrassment. Of course Dumbledore was favoring him, the man had raised him after all. But hearing the contempt in Professor Snape's voice cut at him. No one wanted a squib like him in school - not even the man who had rescued him.

"I am sorry, Professor. I will go straight to bed," Harry hated the husky sound of tears in his voice. He ran off before either of the wizards could react, retracing his steps back to the Slytherin dormitory. Behind him the two older wizards were having a silent stand-off, one cloaked in contempt and the other in disapproval.

"He is not James, Severus," Dumbledore scolded when the child was out of earshot. Snape bristled at the condescending tone of his old mentor.

"He is not Lily either, headmaster. It must irk you that the Boy Who Lived turned out to be a Slytherin," Snape sneered. Dumbledore did not look as perturbed by his comment as he had expected, but the iciness in those baby blue eyes proved that the old wizard was not completely immune to his taunts.

"The boy deserves a fair chance at the wizarding world, Severus."

"Then perhaps you should stop coddling him," Snape retorted. Dumbledore's eyes flashed but Snape continued before the man could fire back.

"From now on please refrain from meddling in my house, headmaster. After all you appointed me to take care of all the Slytherins, did you not?"

Without waiting for a response Snape swept off into the dark hallway. He could feel the headmaster's angry gaze burning into his back and he awarded himself a grim smile. With a formidable opponent like Albus Dumbledore he most certainly had not won the war, but this battle had gone to him. He would keep a close eye on the newest addition to Slytherin House.

Back in his dorm, Harry did not make eye contact with any of his roommates. He dressed quickly in his blue owl-spotted pajamas and crawled under the blankets. It was not long before a prefect called lights out and he could mash his face into his pillows and choke back on tears.

It had been a miserable day. He was a Slytherin, the man who had saved him hated him and he still had no magic to show for his 16 years of life. He felt as if he would be kicked out of Hogwarts at any moment for being a fraud. He would live the rest of his life as a muggle. He had nothing against muggles, but surely he deserved to become a powerful wizard like his father? Surely, after surviving Voldemort's killing curse and Bellatrix's torture he was allowed to live a normal, peaceful magical life. More than being a Gryffindor and making his parents proud, he wanted to be able to thank Severus Snape, the dark man who had saved him from the abuse of the death eaters.

He lay in the darkness for a very long time, focussed simply on breathing. Somewhere, from one breath to another, his mind surrendered to the darkness of a thankfully dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"Mr Potter."

Harry startled awake to the unfamiliar voice right next to his ear. He was greeted by a small creature with massive eyes and floppy ears. A house elf.

"Mr Harry Potter, sir, Dot can't clean while you are sleeping, sir."

Harry glanced around to find all the other beds empty and neatly made. Sunlight was streaming into the dorm through the open curtains. The dorm was empty. With a yelp he jumped out of bed and ran to the wardrobe. He had overslept! Combing his hair with his fingers and hurriedly brushing teeth, he managed to pull on his robes without too much of a struggle. The elf, Dot, watched him hurry for a moment before snapping his fingers and summoning a piece of toast.

"You have missed breakfast, sir." The elf pointed out helpfully. Harry mumbled a hasty thank you, grabbed the toast and rushed out the door with his bag in the other hand. He swallowed the toast in painfully big bites as he followed Dumbledore's poorly drawn map to where his first class was; Potions with Professor Snape. He groaned aloud. The professor already hated him enough without Harry sleeping through his first class.

He rushed into the class rather noisily, receiving a death glare from Professor Snape and several snickers from the other students.

"Mr Potter, have you finally decided to grace is with your presence?" Harry flushed at the teacher's cold sneer.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I overslept."

"Perhaps if the rules applied to you, you would not oversleep. Ten points from Slytherin. Sit down and try to look bright, Mr Potter."

There was more sniggering as Harry sank into one of the open chairs near the front. Professor Snape continued the lesson as if he had never been interrupted, but disappointment lay like a cold stone in the pit of Harry's stomach. He had hoped that the next time he met the Potions Master he would have made a better impression.

Trying to make up for it, he took out his text and diligently took notes on the lecture. Professor Snape's voice was low and somehow soothing as he explained the do's a don'ts of potion brewing. Somewhere from the back one of the Gryffindors whispered loudly to a friend. Harry cringed inwardly when Professor Snape's eyes hardened into lumps of coal.

"Do you have something to add to my lecture, Mr Greenhorn?" He queried in a dangerously soft voice. The rest of the class held their breath as the teacher stared down the nervous Gryffindor. Alex Greenhorn turned pale.

"Nothing, Professor," he whispered. Snape did not release the student from his death glare, and Harry was silently thankful that it was not trained on him.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor. Interrupt my class again and I'll make it a hundred points."

Gasps echoed through the classroom. Harry could not help but feel that the professor was being unfair to the poor kid. He looked about ready to faint with fright.

"Isn't fifty points a bit much, Sir?" Harry asked timidly, then he wished that he had rather bitten off his tongue than spoken.

"Detention, Mr Potter. Friday at 7pm in my office. Does anyone else share Mr Potter's concern?"

When everyone had sufficiently averted their gazes from the teacher, Professor Snape continued his lecture rather cheerfully. Harry sunk low in his chair, no longer listening. He felt like a complete failure. It was only his first day at school and he had already lost his house points and gotten detention.

When the class was finally over everyone trickled out quietly. Harry was surprised to hear someone calling his name.

"Hey, it's Harry, right? Thanks for sticking up for me back there. Snape can be such a git. He loves giving detention."

Harry glanced at the Gryffindor to make sure the guy was talking to him. Apparently he was.

"No problem... He was kind of overdoing it with the punishments," Harry found himself saying in a much calmer voice than he had been expecting. Alex Greenhorn smirked and thumped him on the back.

"Do you have Charms next class as well? Let's sit together."

And just like that Harry realised that he had made a friend. He found it surprisingly fun to spend the day with the Gryffindor. Alex was tall and scrawny, and had a nervous twitch in his eye whenever he spoke, but the guy was friendly and full of jokes. Harry discovered that he had actually failed his first year and was repeating, which was why he disliked Professor Snape so much.

"It totally wasn't my fault, man. I failed my exams because the bloody git wouldn't let me attend classes."

"Professor Snape did? Why?" Harry could not stifle his surprise. His image of Severus Snape was drastically changing and he did not like this new person one bit. Alex glanced around nervously and pulled Harry behind the tree they had been lounging against.

"There is this plant, see? Professor Sprout keeps it in her greenhouse for certain potions. The plant is really great for smoking; it takes away all of your stress if you know what I mean."

Harry had no idea what he meant, but he nodded along hoping to look as though he also understood herbs.

"Well you can make a few coins selling the plant at the quarterly Weasley Bash. Used to be the Weasley twins would supply the smokes, but since Ron Weasley is the last of the line still hosting the party that opened some room for me. So I snuck into the greenhouse and nabbed the plant. I wasn't going to smoke it, honest, just sell it for some pocket money you know. I didn't know that Snape had been eyeing the plant for one of his experimental calming draughts," he continued rather grimly.

"When he discovered it was missing he was furious. I gave most of it back after testing some to make sure it was good, right? And get this, he had me suspended from classes! I missed a whole week. That's why I ended up failing my classes."

Harry considered informing his new friend that missing class for a week couldn't make him fail the entire year, but he decided against it. Friends were supposed to support each other right? And he so wanted a friend in Gryffindor.

Suddenly Alex's eyes gleamed with mischief that made wariness stir within Harry. Alex grabbed his arm in a painful grip.

"You can help me though!"

"I can?" Harry stuttered uneasily.

"Yes! There is another Weasley Bash at the end of the term. If we get the plant there we will be the most popular first years in school."

"Oh... I guess you could do that," Harry said doubtfully, but Alex shook off the comment.

"Not me. See, Snape has some of it left, but he keeps it in his office now where it's difficult to get to. I can't sneak in there, but you..."

"I have detention there," Harry realised. The approving look his friend sent him warmed him up a little. Then he thought about how angry Snape had been with him and he cringed.

"Won't I get suspended though?" he whispered fearfully to his new friend. Alex wore a satisfied expression similar to that of a cat having trapped a mouse and waiting for it to realise there was no way out.

"Only if you get caught. Besides, if you do I've got your back, man. I'll tell old Snape that it was all my idea."

Harry couldn't help but smile at his new friend. Alex was the nicest person he knew.

The rest of the week passed in a blur. Harry was exhausted by the end of it. He still had no magic, and the teachers were starting to frown at him for not working along when they practised spells. Harry tried, but even the old oak wand Dumbledore had given him felt like nothing but a dry stick. The more he tried the more frustrated he became. Would he ever come into his magic? Should he just stop trying and become a muggle?

It was Alex who pulled him out of his self-pity depression whenever the spells would not work for him. The Gryffindor had inexhaustible stores of energy and dragged him all over Hogwarts. They had played tricks on some Hufflepuffs, thrown rocks at the mermen in the lake and even walked a few feet into the forbidden forest. Harry could not help but marvel at the Gryffindor's bravery. Was that what being a Gryffindor was all about? For the first time he started to see why the sorting hat had placed him in Slytherin. He was nothing like his carefree friend. He said as much to Alex, who simply snorted off the comment.

"You're as brave as any Gryffindor, Harry. There really shouldn't be any houses. Everyone should just be in one house where the strongest wizards rule."

Alex mentioned this a few times, making Harry uncomfortable. Despite sitting next to Alex in nearly all of their classes, Alex did not pay much attention to anyone else and he had not yet discovered Harry's inability to do magic. Every time he went off on a tirade of "survival of the fittest" Harry could not help but wonder if he would be at the very bottom of the pool without any magic. That lead to him wondering if Alex would protect him if that were the case. He somehow doubted it, but then Alex turned and smiled and cracked a joke and he remembered that this was his best friend. Of course he would look out for Harry. That was what friends were for. So when Friday evening arrived he nervously accepted Alex's pat on the back and motivational wink. He would get the herb for his friend because he wanted Alex to be happy.

"I don't know what the scientific name is, but the third years call it magic pumpkin juice. Anyway you will know it by that charm I gave you. One of the Ravenclaw prefects made it to detect magic pumpkin juice in the dorms. It will glow green when you get near the plant."

Harry nodded and slipped the cold stone into his pocket before setting off to Snape's office. He had heard rumours about the awful detention Professor Snape doled out. Some of the other Slytherins had said he might strung Harry up by his thumbs and leave him to rot in the dungeons. Harry really hoped that they were just saying that because they were still mad at him for losing points.

Harry knocked tentatively on the heavy wooden door and received a curt "Come in".

"Professor..."

"Mr Potter, you are late. Close the door behind you."

With a nervous swallow Harry closed the heavy door and walked to where Snape was preoccupied with sorting through several vials of very similar looking herbs. All around his office were racks of potions, herbs, pouches and jars containing what looked like bits of animals. Harry shuddered.

"I got lost on the way here," he admitted as he watched the man scowl angrily at something greenish in a bottle.

"Expired," Snape murmured and threw the offending bottle onto a growing pile of outcast potions. When his black eyes met Harry's green ones he could not suppress the shiver running down his spine. Those eyes were devoid of all colour, but somehow they seemed to contain a wealth of emotion instead of being curiously blank the way Bellatrix's had been.

"Do you know why you received detention, Mr Potter?"

"Uh..."

Snape sighed very much as if he regretted even asking the question. "For speaking out of turn, Mr Potter, and being disrespectful to your head of house. Must everything be spelled out to you?"

"No, Sir," Harry murmured.

"Well?" Snape said acidly, glaring at the boy. Harry peered meekly through his eyelashes, unaware of the jolt of recognition that shot through his Professor.

"I am sorry for being disrespectful, Professor," Harry whispered.

Unable to keep up his irritation while staring into Lily's eyes, Snape grunted and pointed to the pile of potions on the ground.

"Those are all expired. Your punishment is to throw out the old ingredients and clean the vials. And beware if you leave even a spot of soap on those, Mr Potter! If one of my potions fail because of your poor cleaning I will send you into the forbidden forest every night for a month."

Feeling as if he had gotten off lightly, Harry silently started emptying the vials into a big bin Snape had transfigured from a cup. It took a lot of time, but Harry felt himself relaxing as he worked. Snape kept murmuring to himself and jotting notes into a small booklet. Every so often he would flit around the office like a deranged bat and pluck jars off the shelves. Harry was not sure what the potions master was doing, but he found himself enjoying just having someone else nearby. Soon he was watching Snape go about his work more than cleaning. It was only when Snape shot him a dark scowl that he realized he had been getting on the professor's nerves.

"Honestly, Potter, I thought you would have learned your lesson from receiving detention, but now you laze about watching me work," Snape sneered. Harry widened his eyes in shock.

"No, Sir, I didn't not mean to be lazy, I just..." Harry flushed. What could he say? He liked watching the professor. Snape whispered to himself when he was concentrating and he got a little furrow between his eyes that Harry kind of wanted to smooth out. Blushing even more at the thought, Harry twisted his fingers together.

"Cat got your tongue, Mr Potter?"

"Sir, I actually wanted to thank you," Harry blurted. Snape looked taken aback for a moment before his perpetual scowl returned.

"You enjoy detention that much?"

"No Professor, I meant for rescuing me back then," Harry said softly. When Snape did not respond he peeked up at the potions master who was staring at him with a frown.

"I did not rescue you."

"It was you," Harry insisted. "I remember because I saw your eyes..." Harry bit his tongue before he could blurt out anything more embarrassing, like that he had stared into the darkness of Snape's eyes and had thought that if that warm darkness was what death brought he would gladly fall under Snape's wand.

"I do not recall such a thing. If you will excuse me, Mr Potter, I am a busy man. I will return when your detention is finished."

With that cold rebuke Snape strode out of the office, slamming the door behind him. Harry stared after the man in shock. Had he upset the potions master? He had only meant to thank him, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

It took several minutes for Harry to realise that he was in fact alone in Severus Snape's office. Heart pounding, he removed the charm from his pocket and held it up. There was a faint glow that got stronger the closer he got to Snape's desk. Finally the light started flashing. Harry stared at the pot containing a small green plant hidden in the corner. How was he supposed to sneak that out of here without being caught? Finally he shrugged out of his robe and wrapped it carefully around the plant. It might look odd, but he could blame the heat from working so hard.

Nervous and sweating, he continued until he had finished all of the vials and left them to dry. His heart lurched when Professor Snape stormed into the office, but the man did not even glance at his bundled up robe.

"To bed now, Mr Potter. And don't let this happen again."

Harry murmured a goodbye and fled the office, his heart racing at triple speed. He rounded several corners before he managed to slow down and take a deep breath. He had not been caught! He had the plant and Snape was none the wiser. With a delighted laugh he ran up the stairs to the astronomy tower. Alex had told him to leave the plant there because he had first period astronomy and could take it out in his schoolbag. After shoving the little pot into a cupboard Harry donned his robe and made his way back to the Slytherin dormitory. Alex was going to be so happy! He could not wait to see his friend's reaction when he found out that Harry had succeeded.


End file.
